intransitive verb
waved, wav′ing- to move up and down or back and forth in a curving or undulating motion; swing, sway, or flutter to and fro: said of flexible things free at one end: flags waving in the breeze
- to signal by moving a hand, arm, light, etc. to and fro
- to have the form of a series of curves or undulations: hair that waves naturally
Origin of wave
Middle English waven from Old English wafian, akin to German waben, to fluctuate from Indo-European an unverified form webh-, to move to and fro, probably identical with an unverified form webh-, to weave- to cause to wave, undulate, or sway to and fro
- to swing or brandish (a weapon)
- to move or swing (something) as a signal; motion with (the hand, arms, etc.)
- to signal (something) by doing this: to wave farewell
- to signal or signify something to (someone) by doing this: he waved us on
- to give an undulating form to; make sinuous: to wave one's hair
- a ridge or swell moving along the surface of a liquid or body of water as a result of disturbance, as by wind
- an undulation or series of undulations in or on a surface, such as that caused by wind over a field of grain
- a curve or series of curves or curls, as in the hair
- an appearance of undulation, by reflection of light, on watered fabric
- a motion to and fro or up and down, such as that made by the hand in signaling
- something like a wave in action or effect; specif.,
- an upsurge or rise, as to a crest, or a progressively swelling manifestation: a crime wave, heat wave, wave of emotion, etc.
- a movement of people, etc., in groups or masses, which recedes or grows smaller before subsiding or being followed by another: a wave of immigrants
- Old Poet. water; esp., the sea or other body of water
- Physics a periodic motion or disturbance consisting of a series of many oscillations that propagate through a medium or space, as in the propagation of sound or light: the medium does not travel outward from the source with the wave but only vibrates as it passes
Origin of wave
altered (based on the v.) < ME wawe, a wavewave Idioms
make waves
Informal to disturb the prevailing calm, complacency, etc.
